A True Heartfelt Salute

My paternal great-grandfather, Charles C. Crane, nearly lost his life during World War I.  I can still recall as a child him telling me his haunting stories of war.  My paternal and maternal grandfathers, William C. Crane and Leonard W. Ready, served in the Army and Navy respectively during WWII.  My father, Jerry Crane was also an Army man of the Korean War era.  I have made my share of mistakes and poor choices in life, but one of my very few regrets is never having served in uniform.  

Thankfully though, in wartime as well as in peace there are several million Americans who have served in our U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, National Guard, Coast Guard, as well as the Merchant Marine, and an increasing number of special forces within those service branches, and I guess now also including the U.S. Space Force.

As we witness young men and women, in Israel completing their mandatory 32-36 months of service to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), I think our nation in part has softened by making no requirement, beyond draft service registration, of our young adult citizens.  Immigrants to the United States often still frequently expedite their legal path to citizenship by taking a tour of duty in our armed forces.

Veterans Day is annually celebrated as a federal and state holiday on November 11th @ 11 a.m. (11/11 @ 11).  Originally named Armistice Day, marking the first anniversary of the end of World War I., Congress passed a resolution making the observance annual in 1926.  The day became a national holiday in 1938, and later President Dwight D. Eisenhower (a WWII veteran), signed legislation changing the name to Veterans Day in 1954, honoring all those who have served our nation in peacetime and war.  The official national commemoration of this sacred holiday is held at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, just across Potomac from the National Mall.

November is also deservedly designated as Military Family Month, as military spouses and children also make sacrifices in support of their service members.  The State of Georgia will recognize the holiday beginning at 9:30 a.m. in Midtown Atlanta in the atrium of the Woodruff Arts Center, followed by the Atlanta Veterans Day Parade on 11/11.  Cities as well as counties and communities across Georgia will hold parades and ceremonies, including most all Veteran Cemeteries. 

In Conyers, Georgia, Brigadier General Steve Blanton will speak at the Walk of Heroes Veterans Memorial Park.   With a little help from Google, a long listing of veteran recognition services, parades, concerts, and community events from the north Georgia mountains to the Golden Isles can be easily located.  In Douglas County, on Atlanta's west side, a young County Commissioner, Ricky Dobbs, who was a Naval Academy football standout and scholar, now a Douglas High School football coach and educator, is being deployed overseas.  That community is part of the National Association of Counties Operation Greenlight initiative (https://www.naco.org/program/operation-green-light-veterans), as well as moving a popular nighttime Veterans Parade to daylight hours, to hopefully boost community participation, and also to offer support services to veterans in the community.

Interestingly, according to a 2019 survey, 79 percent of U.S. Army recruits reported having another family member who served.  For nearly 30 percent, that person was a parent...a striking number in a nation where now less than 1 percent of our population serves in the military.  The South produces more than 20 percent of all volunteer inductees, in part due to its younger population, but also due to the preponderance of active-duty military bases and operations of all service branches.  During that same 2019 survey, Fayetteville, North Carolina, and its metro region, which includes Fort Bragg, provided more than twice the number of service branch enlistments as Manhattan, which has 8 times the population.

So please consider taking some time, on Saturday, November 11, at 11 a.m. or another day soon, to bow your head momentarily in recognition, remembrance, prayer, and thanks to all those who have served.  Or if religion and prayer are not your thing, seek out a public event, parade, celebration, or commemoration of those on active duty, or those who have served us over time, make some solid eye contact, raise that right hand above your brow at an angle, just above and to the right of your right eye.  Snap that salute and proudly say, "Thank you for your service."  That is an incredibly small price to pay, but I can assure you that gratitude and recognition will be appreciated.